California Oceanliners
History The California Oceanliners are a Premier League USBA Team based in San Diego, CA. Their current GM is Ian, or Ian There on the Manager's List in the game (for some reason). The organization was established in 2015 as the Nebraska Plainsman by a GM forgotten in history in Menard's Third League. The team rose their way to become the first team to earn back-to-back promotions, winning the ML and SL back to back. The team won Organization of the Year in 2016 for these achievements. 2015 Nebraska Plainsman The Nebraska Plainsman was one of the 12 teams added in 2015 to the Menard's Third League. This team was the amazing story that no one remembered. Nebraska was in dead last in June, the worst team in the entire USBA, when they found a spark. They crushed the defending champions, Lexington 9-0. This was the start of their big run, turning them around and slowly coming up the ranks. They finished their season 63-45 after running off with the ML in the final 13 games. The 2015 Nebraska Plainsman finished off their season winning their last 13 games, putting them in 1st place at the very end. This win streak became the longest win streak in ML history, but was beaten out in 2016 by Columbus with 15. The old GM resigned after the season, and sadly, the founder of the team's was forgotten in USBA history. 2016 Nebraska Plainsman/California Oceanliners Part 1 With an empty GM slot for almost 7 months, Nebraska became an SL wasteland, but was somehow hanging in 4 games out from the main candidate to win the SL, the Chicago Gold Sox. This 10-7 record was enough to convince GM Ian to hop into the USBA and control Nebraska. On May 7th, 2016, GM Ian took the position as Nebraska Plainsman General Manager. After exploring many relocation options to give this organization a new spark such as Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cape May, Cherry Hill, and many others, the team decided to move to San Diego under the California Oceanliners. The Oceanliners colors became white, light blue, and dark blue. On May 7th, a new strategy was brought to the organization. GM Ian brought the depth over star power idea to the organization by trading their star power such as Kyle Lewis and John Watson to Premier League teams for lots of youthful, athletic depth like John MacGregor, Alf Nasbom, and Alfredo Perez that could guide the team out of the SL. The organization and fans were determined to win the SL, but this alternative win-now plan was originally questioned by the media to be used on a team that was not supposed to compete anyway. California took steps slowly up the ladder of the SL, slowly gaining game by game on teams like New Amsterdam and Rocky Mountain. The main part of the season was yet to come. The Win Streak From June 11th to July 2nd, California broke boundaries and sent a message to the USBA. June 11th was supposed to be a normal game, California was on the verge of getting swept by the league leader, Chicago. Although is was an unproductive series, California took the last game 1-0. California later swept Norfolk, NOVA, Southern Cali, Philadelphia, and took a series to remember in New Amsterdam to pile up a 15-game win streak. This win streak tied the USBA all-time record for longest winning streak, tied with another San Diego franchise, the San Diego Sea Turtles in 2013. The strange thing is, on the same day, June 11th, the Columbus Tidal Waves started a 14-game win streak lasting until July 1st, defeating Nebraska's 13 game win streak for longest win streak in the ML. The California win streak also was nominated for the 2016 Moment of the Year and was voted 2nd behind Thunder Bay's Cup Run. The 2016 California Oceanliners Part 2 After the win streak, the Oceanliners were far into 2nd, chasing the tail of the Chicago Gold Sox. For the whole year, Chicago was the favorite to win the SL, even shortly after California took over. The Oceanliners moved up slowly until they tied Chicago for the 1st place spot. Cali went through a hot streak after that moving up 2, 4, 5, all the way up to 6 games up later. California ended up winning the SL by 6 games with a 74-34 record, making the organization the first team to earn back to back promotions. 2016 Oceanliner Awards In 2016, the Oceanliners established the Oceanliner Awards. This would honor the top players for the team.